Author's Note: I don't own anything. I'm poor. If you sued, I'm afraid all I could give you is a ball of pocket lint and a used toothbrush. That's hardly worth your time. This is just a fluffy little get-together fic. Something I came up with on a whim.

Synopsis: Sanosuke tries his hand at wooing the ladies—er… the lady. The FOXlady that is…

WOMAN

If I be so inclined to climb up beside you,
Would you tell me that the time just isn't right?

Sanosuke watched the young lady-doctor cross the room, seeing one patient after another. In her plain blue-purple kimono and her doctor's smock, he thought she had never been prettier. He contemplated sauntering up to her, cornering her in her office, and giving her a piece of his mind. But the timing was all off. True, Sano never had a good sense of timing, but he knew interrupting her from her work would not get him quite as far as he anticipated.

Megumi hurried from one body to the next, trying her best to avoid the man lounging in the corner of her office. "That silly dope has probably gone and busted his hand up again in another street brawl. I don't know how many times I'll have to tell him he can't just be fighting any stranger that comes along and pisses him off—his bones won't tolerate much more." She muttered under her breath and sighed. But, however flustered she tried to make herself feel, she knew she was attracted to the tall, lanky man sitting languidly in her office. She tried her best to repress the feelings, but they came out when she was least expecting it.

Sanosuke watched the sun as it dipped below the rooftops of the buildings across the street from the doctor's office, he would have his chance, soon, he thought, as he noted that fewer and fewer patients inhabited the waiting rooms. Resting his head against the wall, he closed his eyes and waited.


And if I should ever find the key you hide so well,
Will you tell me that I can spend the night?

Finally, when all the ailing had been seen to, and the older doctor had closed up his shop, Megumi resigned herself to her office, to see about the man she knew would be waiting for her there. "Alright, what have you done now!" she cried in obvious mock anger, "What have I told you about fighting people, Roosterhead? You never listen!" She was only half-angry at him, but she hoped he wouldn't see through her mask.

'She's so cute when she's yellin' at me.' Sanosuke thought to himself, and wondered just what it was about her that he found so enamoring. Perhaps it was her eyes, and how they looked when she was angry; perhaps it was her skin, as smooth, and milky white as silk; perhaps it was her mysteriousness he liked. Sanosuke did not know. Tonight, Sanosuke wasn't at her office to have his hand checked on. He was there to find out just how far his feelings would get him. He had to know what it was about Megumi that kept him awake at night. "Chill out, Foxlady, I'm not here for my hand." He said, and waved it in front of his face to show that it was all right.

Megumi blinked, wondering what on earth Sano had wrong with him, that could make him sit in her office all day without making a peep. "Then what are you here for?" She asked, as coldly as she could manage.


Leavin your smell on my coat, leavin your taste on my shoulder.
I still fail to understand what it is about this woman.

"I'm here because I can't figure out just what it is about you…" Sano trailed off, letting her guess the rest of his thoughts.

"What are you talking about?!" she huffed, spinning to look him curiously in the face. Her eyes narrowed, then widened when she saw the way he was gazing at her. "Sano—" It was the first time she had attempted his name since the night they met, and his best friend was killed, but her tongue, upon that realization, choked her, and she finished the last half of it in silence.

"I'm talking about us, Megumi." He said, and it sounded nonchalant, but his head was spinning. He noted the way she had called his name, and how she'd not made her way through it. 'Perhaps there is more feeling behind her eyes than I had hoped for.' He thought to himself, grinning inwardly. "What game are we playing here, exactly?" He asked, and Megumi's mouth opened and closed. "I walk you home every night. I make it a point to. You know that—that's why I drop by here every day." Sanosuke sat up in his chair, leaning his elbows on his knees, bringing himself minutely closer to the lady-doctor.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about. I thought you just came by here to annoy me!" Megumi stuttered, her heart was pounding.

"I think you do." Sanosuke said, and stood just as Megumi spun away from him.


If I could bottle up the chills that you give me
I would keep them in a jar next to my bed.

Megumi shuddered visibly as she felt his eyes slide over her, his form towering over her own. She did not, could not speak, and she brought her arms up to wrap around her body. In an effort not to look frightened or uncomfortable, and perhaps, even under control, she raised her hands to smooth her hair, and then to remove her smock.

Sanosuke moved up to touch her and held it in the air momentarily as if he were afraid that she might evaporate at his touch. Then, gently, he laid his hand on her shoulder, and he noticed her jump. "Megumi, look at me." He said, though his voice was strained. He spun her around on her heels, but she did not raise her eyes to meet his own. Instead, she took to ringing her smock in her fists. "Megumi." He spoke again, the tension gone, replaced by a tone of comforting smoothness.

Megumi swallowed her heart and inhaled sharply at his touch, and when he spun her around, she clenched her eyes tight, so as not to believe that he were in front of her. When he spoke her name, though, she lifted her head, and opened her eyes, to look the tall man in the face. "Sano—I…" she began. But Sanosuke would not let her finish.

And If I should ever draw a picture of a woman
It is you that would come flowing from my pen

Without thinking, Sanosuke took Megumi's chin in his hand, and lowered his head to graze her lips with his own. It was a brief, soft, chaste kiss, and when he drew away, he kept his eyes closed in anticipation of a slap across the face. But the slap never came.

"Sanosuke." She made it through his name as she blinked up at him, wondering what in the world he could be thinking. She had hoped for a long time that this kind of thing might transpire between them, but she never dreamed in a million years that he could love her the way she loved him. She urged him onward silently, begging him to answer her unasked question.

"Megumi, you and I both know there is something here." He stated, rather dumbly. "I don't know why we fight like we do, but I know that's not all we have together. I just can't…" He trailed off, closing his eyes.

"Can't what?" She asked, sounding strangely unlike herself.

"I can't figure out… why… or… or what." He said, and looked back down at her. "You can't tell me you don't have feelings for me." He said, taking her by the shoulders and seating them both in the chairs that lined her office wall.

"I never said I didn't have feelings for you, Sanosuke." Megumi admitted, lowering her head.

"You're so beautiful, Megumi." Sanosuke blurted, knowing it wasn't exactly well timed. "I've thought so ever since I first met you. You're… You're perfect." He whispered to her, ardently seeking her eyes again, that he might know what she wasn't saying.

Leavin your clothes on the floor, Making me walk out the door
And I still fail to understand what it is about this woman.

"Sanosuke. I… I think you should go." She said slowly. "I… I don't need this right now." And with that, she stood, forgetting her smock, which fell to the floor as she crossed her tiny office and gathered her things. "I will meet you at the Kamiya Dojo for dinner, ok?" She offered in compensation—knowing that she'd probably crushed his efforts. Her mind was reeling, and she needed to sort things out—she needed to understand exactly what this meant, before she jumped into things.

"I won't let you walk alone, Megumi, it isn't safe out here, when the sun goes down." Sanosuke said, but his voice was harder than it had been moments before. "You know I won't."

"Sanosuke, I need…" But did she? Really? Megumi didn't know. "Please, leave." She said, and motioned to her office door.

Sanosuke sighed helplessly, and trudged through the entrance. "I'll wait for you outside." He mumbled, but he noticed her nod, and he left without any more words. Once outside, he noted that the air had chilled, and he shook his head. Megumi had him confounded. She wasn't angry with him for kissing her, but she wouldn't accept his feelings either… Sagara Sanosuke did not know what to think.


Helplessly melting as I stand next to the sun.
As she burns me, I am screaming out for more

Megumi took twice as long to pack her things and ready herself for departure for Kaoru's place than usual. She knew that Sanosuke would wait there all night, if he had to, so, after fumbling around with a few supplies that she'd already relocated four times, she sighed and relinquished herself to her fate.

Sanosuke rolled his head around on his shoulders, and his stomach turned once more as he waited for Megumi to emerge. 'Why am I nervous?' He asked himself as if the idea were absurd. He noted that his hands were sweaty, and he quickly wiped them on his pants to rid himself of the unwanted moisture. Letting out a breath of air, she noted how his whole body seemed to tremble, and he groaned. He wanted to scream. He shook his head to clear his mind and sighed loudly as he heard her close and lock her office door.

When Megumi emerged, she looked for a moment at Sanosuke before turning and locking the door behind her. "We need to get a move-on, Kaoru and Sir Ken will be worried about us." She mentioned, trying to keep the topic off the two of them. She should have known it wouldn't work.

Sanosuke fell easily into step with her as she began her walk toward the dojo, and when he noticed her shivering he spoke up, "Megumi, come here, it's cool out tonight." With that, he offered his arm for protection, and though he was not expecting it, she moved closer so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders. As soon as her body was next to his, moving in time with his lazy steps, Sano choked every thought he had about speaking to her—his brain could formulate no words, merely concentrate on the feeling of her against him.


Drink every drop of liquid heat that I've become.
Pop me open; spill me out on to the floor.

"Megumi, why can't we just… see where things go?" He asked, after a long uncomfortable silence had settled between them.

Megumi didn't answer, only looked away from the man she was walking next to. The truth was, there was no good reason. The realization of that struck her funny and she stopped abruptly, pulling Sanosuke back with a jerk. 'He's right.' Her mind screamed, and she twitched, unwilling to admit that. She didn't know how he'd managed to get so deep inside her mind, but she was uncomfortable with the thought that perhaps she didn't have complete control. "There is no good reason," she found herself saying, and the look in his eyes prompted her to speak up again. "I love you. You love me. That's obvious." She watched with a sort of restrained amusement as Sanosuke's face twitched and contorted into a silly little grin. "There is no reason we can't find out where this is going." Megumi had a thought, and before she could tell her self no, she moved against Sano, and reached her head up to kiss him, full on the lips.

Leavin your smell on my coat, leavin your taste on my shoulder,
I still fail to understand, fail to understand

Sanosuke's mind remembered how to breathe several moments too late, as Megumi's lips pressed against his own. He found his hands winding around her waist, and his eyes closing tight. When he finally lost the stars that had been flying behind his eyes, and when Megumi pulled her lips from his, he blinked down at her for several moments, before pulling her so tightly against him he stumbled back, and she gasped aloud. He bent his head for another kiss; but this one was more passionate than the previous. He had no idea how or exactly why all of this had started, but none of that mattered, he had this beautiful woman right where he wanted her.

Megumi pushed Sanosuke away slightly, and took a breath to steady herself. "Sano, our dinner will get cold if we don't get going." She stammered, not looking him directly in the eyes.

Sanosuke quirked his head to the side and furrowed his brow, shaking his head. "Megumi, I refuse to understand what goes on in that head of yours. One day we're fighting like cats and dogs, the next you're making out with me in the middle of the street!"

Megumi's mouth dropped open, "YOU started it, mister! Don't you go pinning this on me! Acting like I tried to seduce you!" she growled, huffing a few steps ahead of him.

As a brisk breeze passed, Sano caught the scent she'd left behind on him, and he closed his eyes and smiled. "We're going to have a fun time explaining this to Kenshin and the others." He called after her and she spun around to glare at him. However, when she saw the look on his face, her own softened, and she smiled. "Megumi, you can be mad at me all you want—just so long as you keep kissing me the way you just did…" Sanosuke grinned satisfactorily at her.

Together they walked to the Kamiya Dojo preparing all the way for the explanation of a lifetime.

Leavin your smell on my coat, leavin your taste on my shoulder.
I still fail to understand what it is about this woman.

© 2005

Aleesha Posey

January 22, 2005